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FREEVIEW CHANGE FOR HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS

Freeview viewers in the south west Highlands and Islands may need to retune their TV equipment on 4 October 2017 to continue watching programmes.

Some Freeview channels are moving to new airwaves to allow for the future development of new mobile broadband services.1 Following a decision by Ofcom, the media regulator, transmitters across the UK are being updated region by region as part of a major engineering programme being carried out between now and 2020.

Changes will begin at the Torosay transmitter group shortly after midnight and Freeview channels will be off-air overnight until 6am. After this, any viewers receiving their TV signal from the main Torosay transmitter who find they are missing channels can retune to get them back. Services from smaller local relay transmitters will be subject to disruption until late afternoon2. Satellite and cable TV are not affected.

Around 15,000 homes are served by these transmitters. Freeview will be running an information campaign to prepare people for the change, including advertising and on-screen messages.

Retuning should be straightforward and some TV equipment will retune automatically. Anyone who needs advice, or who finds they are still missing services after retuning, can visit the Freeview website at www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges or contact the Freeview Advice Line free on 0808 100 0288. Some older aerials may need to be replaced to continue receiving all channels. Help will be available for viewers where this is the case.3

Freeview is working with Digital UK, broadcasters and Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited to provide information and support for viewers.

In November 2014 Ofcom announced its decision to reallocate some airwaves used by Freeview to allow for the future launch new mobile services.

For all retune times, see www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges. Freeview channels from the Spean Bridge, Castlebay and Strontian local relays will be temporarily off-air but viewers receiving their signal from here do not need to retune.

Viewers in need of a replacement aerial to receive affected services following the change can seek help via the Freeview Advice Line.

Equipment for other services that use Freeview channels, such as YouView, BT TV, TalkTalk, EE and Now TV may also need to be retuned.